The Unix System

Spring 2009

CS 330-3TTh 11:00 AM –12:15 PMPM 203

Instructor:Dr. Reva Freedman

Email:

Phone:(815) 753–6944 (during office hours only)

Office hours:TTh 2:00–3:30 PM, or by appointment

Course web site:

Textbooks:(optional)
Newham and Rosenblatt, Learning the Bash Shell.
Sobell, Practical Guide to Linux.

Contacting the instructor: The best way to contact me is in person, followed by email. I rarely pull the messages from my phone voice mailbox. I will be happy to talk to you about questions or concerns at any time. I encourage you to address small problems before they become big problems, not the day before the exam.

I try to respond to email by the next business day, but there are occasional exceptions. Questions that can be answered from reference material may not be answered. Questions requiring major debugging are best handled in person.

Late-breaking news, e.g., errors in assignments, will be sent to your official university email address. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have space in your inbox and to check it regularly.

Class attendance: You are responsible for all material covered in class. Although I try to make material available online, this is not an online class, and you are responsible for material covered in class and announcements made in class. If you miss a class, you must get notes from another student before the next class, not from the instructor. Research has shown that students who attend class regularly do better regardless of other behaviors. Class participation is encouraged and will make the class more interesting for you and for the other students. If you have a question, there are probably three other people with the same question who are even more shy than you.

Class decorum: In classes for freshmen, I state the following rule on the syllabus: “No activity that interferes with learning is permitted in class. For example, talking, eating, cell phone use, newspaper reading, and regularly being late or leaving early are not permitted.” In a class for seniors and graduate students, I assume it is not necessary to state such a rule explicitly.

Exams and quizzes: There will be three exams. Exams will be closed-book, closed-notes. The first exam will probably be during the week of Feb. 23. The second exam will probably be during the week of April 6. The third exam will be given during the final exam slot, i.e. Tues. May 5, 10-11:50 AM.

You are expected to take the exams on the assigned time and date. Missing an exam is an extremely serious matter: makeup exams will only be given if all of the following requirements are satisfied: (a) an unavoidable reason (e.g.car accident), (b) advance notification, (c)written documentation, (d) permission of instructor, (e) for final exam, permission of department.

If you have another final exam at the same time, please let me know ASAP. Also please notify me ASAP if you meet the university’s criterion for rescheduling a final exam, namely that you have three finals on the same day and this course is the highest-numbered of the three. The university deadline for scheduling a makeup final is Monday of the last week of classes, i.e.Mon., April 27. Documentation is required to schedule a makeup final.

Assignments: There will be 5–8 assignments. Written homework must be turned in at the beginning of the class period to be considered on time. Most assignments must be typewritten (i.e., printed, not handwritten); exceptions will be noted. Print programs using non-proportional type (e.g., Courier) in at least 10 point size. You may use proportional type for answers to questions, but make sure the type size is at least as large as this handout (i.e., 12 point). This means that you may not print 2up. Homework should be turned in on 8 1/2 x 11 paper and must be stapled together. The upper right corner of the first page should contain (a) your name, (b) CS330, (c)the assignment number, (d)the date. If you cannot attend class, written assignments may be left in the instructor’s mailbox or under my door provided they are received before class time. No late assignments will be accepted.

Online assignments must be turned in online by the deadline. No late assignments will be accepted.Programs must run on turing.cs.niu.edu or hopper.cs.niu.edu regardless of where you developed them.

Academic honesty: You are expected to do your own work on the homework, programs and exams. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, copying work from other students, copying work from other textbooks, copying work from the Internet, or helping others to do the same.

All cheating will result in the filing of an academic misconduct form and will affect your course grade, with the possibility of failing the course. Note that a second academic misconduct offense may result in your expulsion from the university.

We may use mechanized source comparison on the assignments.

Grading: The course grade will be based on the exams and assignments. Each will count 50%. The usual Computer Science grading scheme of 92/84/76/68 will be used.
The exams will be split 15/15/20. The assignments will be weighted according to length and difficulty.

1